Sudan, South Sudan halt fighting

Sudan and South Sudan said Wednesday that they had withdrawn troops from their disputed border area, easing tensions after three days of violence that each country blamed on the other.

South Sudanese military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said armed forces had "disengaged and withdrawn" from Heglig, a region rich in oil that is claimed by both countries.

"It was never our policy to occupy and capture Heglig," Aguer said. "It was the aggression of the Sudan Armed Forces that brought us to the area."

Sudanese officials also said they had withdrawn from the area, and placed the blame on their southern neighbors. Sudanese foreign ministry spokesman Al-Obeid Meruh told AFP news agency that troops "are not going to make any sort of shelling or any sort of bombing in South Sudanese territory," adding that "we are not for the war now and we are not going to widen the war area."

Border talks on hold

South Sudan achieved formal independence from Sudan in July, but a number of disputes remain between the two countries. The fate of the Heglig region remains one of the greatest issues to be resolved, and talks between the two countries on oil sharing and border demarcation were suspended after the fighting began on Monday.

"The talks between the two countries will be on hold until South Sudan proves to have good faith and intention," Sudan's Ministry of Information said. Sudanese Second Vice President Alhaj Adam Yousif said Monday night that a visit next week by President Omar al-Bashir to the South's capital, Juba, had been canceled.

However the governments in both Juba and Khartoum said senior envoys would meet in the Ethiopian capital on Thursday to prevent a recurrence of fighting.

The African Union, the UN Security Council and the EU have all called for an end to the violence.

"Recent cross-border attacks and continued aerial bombing represent a dangerous escalation of an already tense situation," a statement from EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's office said. "Further cross-border military activity could result in a wider military confrontation."

acb/ (AP, AFP)